Compare And Contrast The North And South During The Antebellum Era

Traditional views of the Antebellum South oftentimes ignore class divides within the American South. African-Americans and Whites are oftentimes viewed as being divided by race with all Whites and African-Americans being equal. However these ideals ignore the seventy-five percent of southerners which did not own slaves and the steep divides between African-American slaves with different roles. Primary sources from authors who experienced the Antebellum South, the American Civil War, and, or Reconstruction alert their audiences to societal divides which existed within each perceived race. Following the abolishment of slavery, economic class divides among whites were mitigated and whites view of African-Americans became standardized. Whites began to only recognize African-American as a rival to their power in all capacities, and as such vilified all African-Americans.

It is believed that the beginning of a task is often the most important as well as the most difficult, because it consists of discovering the basis to success with a greater chance of failure. The establishment of America after gaining independence from Great Britain relied heavily on the foundations set during the antebellum period, which is often classified as the period of time before the civil war. During such vital time in American history came a number of fundamental Supreme Court cases. The outcome of various cases significantly shaped the future of America into the country we know today. Perhaps some of the most important cases include Marbury v. Madison, Gibbons v. Ogden, and Dred Scott v. Sandford. McCulloch v. Maryland is possibly the most prominent Supreme Court case throughout the antebellum period that occurred in 1819, even though different interpretations of the Necessary and Proper Clause have led to many controversies regarding its meaning and the potential supreme authority of congress, this landmark case established that the federal government has certain implied powers under the constitution.

Economy is the third difference. The northern states depended on manufacturing and trade to fuel their economy. The growing season was much shorter than that of the south. As a result, northerners looked to other ways of making money. Many became artisans and tradesmen. The shorter farming seasons also reduced the need for slave labor in the north. In contrast, the south relied primarily on agriculture. While land owners learned what crops to grow the economy in the south continued to be unstable. By the early 1700’s plantation owners began growing various kinds of crops instead of relying solely on tobacco. This helped to stabilize and grow the southern

In the North, they boomed with industrialization and trade. The Boston Harbor was the biggest trading center in the nation and it was located in the North which made trade a whole lot easier to make a living off of. They had more people, more food, and when the time came, more weapons. However, they had many immigrants coming in from Ellis Island which made more jobs scarce everyday which the Northern people needed to get paid unlike the South who had slaves. The South, however, focused on farming and agriculture. They owned huge plantations filled with cash crops. They didn’t work these plantations though like the North who needed to work themselves, they had slaves to do their work for them. They relied on the North to buy cotton from them as well, so later on, when the North cuts off that spending, it really hurts the Southern economy. By the start of the Civil War, only one-ninth of the country’s industrial productivity was in the South. This is why many immigrants migrated to the Northern area when they came to America because they had so many more opportunities for jobs. By 1860, the South’s population stood at a low nine million while the North stood at a high 23 million due to so many immigrants coming in. (Demand Media,

The colonies were set up by the people’s intention for them as well as the region they so happened to hand at. Almost all of them did not reach their intended purpose for their set up. This however led to many slightly similar and completely different ways of life. The southern and northern colonies both developed because of their specific circumstances as well as the people who live there.

Prior to the election of 1860, it was obvious that the North and South exhibited characteristics of two different nations, even though they were termed the “United States of America.” Their views on political, economical, and social aspects on life resembled anything but a united nation with goals and aspirations regarding unity and equality. Due to regionalism in both the North and South and their development up until this point, Lincoln’s success in the election of 1860, the different views on equality, and contrasting beliefs on individualism acted as a catalyst ultimately causing the Southern leaders to secede and later declare war against the Union.

The years immediately following the Civil War was met with very little industrial progress in the South. Between the years of 1875 and 1879, the South was in poor shape and most of the population was living in poverty. According to Woodward, the national average per capita was $870 and no Southern state came within $300 of the national average nor with the $550 of the average per capita outside of the South. (Woodward, 112) By 1879, there was a change in the South that was called by some the beginning of the Industrial Revolution of the South. After the Civil War, proponents of the “New South” did not want to rely strictly on Cotton production for economic growth. They wanted to diversify the south by adding new crops and turning toward a more industrialized South by following the example of the North. The North also saw some opportunities to make money in the South. According to Woodward, as a great depression came to an end in 1879, and released Northern and English capital that sought a Southern outlet for investment (Woodward, 113). Throughout the 1880’ and 1890’s Northern and Foreign capital were attracted by potential developments in the South.

While in the south cotton was becoming very profitable after the invention of the cotton gin in 1793. The southern economy depended solely on cotton production. They needed cheap labor, which meant a lot of slaves. Northern economy was based more on industries rather than agriculture. The north industry would buy the raw cotton and turn into finished goods. So since the south was based on a plantation system

Neither North or South was ready to go into a major war. With the North having a US Army and a US Navy it made the North have a better advantage. Another reason that they North was at a better advantage was because of the agricultural and industrial backing. The Southern landscape was a big part when it came to the civil war. The South did not have any resources making it hard for both citizens and soldiers to live.

Cotton was a big part of the South’s economy. “Southern states of the US had fertile soil and warm climate that made it ideal for large scale farms and crops like cotton” (Jennifer Spensieri) http://www.flagarts.com/faculty-staff/Jennifer%20Spensieri/documents/DifferencesbetweenNorthandSouth) The crops were profitable for the plantation owners becasue they could easily produce the crop and use slave labor for the production. The Northern economy was driven by industry and manufacturing fueled by natural resources. “Whaling was one of the North's biggest industries bringing in 11 million dollars a year” (America the Story of Us Division). The North used the natural resources to help drive their economy. In the North they used wage labor in the factories instead of slave labor. Immigrants populated the cities and “filled the need for cheap labor in towns and cities” (Deverell White page 402). This helped the economy because the immigrants were willing to work for low wages. These were not the only difference between the North and the South there were also political

Boiling tensions between the North and the South over various issues including states’ rights, the role of the federal government, the preservation of the Union, the economy — all interwoven with the institution of slavery — ignited the Civil War. Lincoln’s election to the presidency provoked the South to secede from the Union. Southerners were concerned that their way of life, based on the “peculiar institution”, was threatened by the election of an anti-slavery Republican. Southerners fear of the potential social consequences of emancipation — loss of their cheap labor force, crime waves, black demands for citizenship — defended their decision to secede and protect both the institution of slavery and themselves. Secession, they believed, was the only way to re-create the Union as it’d been before

A big part of the South was made up of it’s plantations and cash crops that were produced. The argument that arose between the political leaders is that slavery was need because their economy was based off of slavery. How would their economy prosper if the slaves were freed. The North would argue that people would simply be paid more to work for them but they didn’t like this. Many wanted to pay someone for cheap labor and have their economy boom like it currently was with no changes. One of the biggest controversy between the North and the South was the Fugitive Slave Act which was part of the Compromise of the 1850 that at least tried to make the North and South have between slavery.(pg347) By the Late 1850s, slavery dominated national politics

America was basically divided into three groups (North, Central, and South). The land in the North was “generally thin, stony soil, relatively little level land, and long winters, making it difficult to make a living from farming.”1 Thou farming was hard, harbors for ships, timber for building ships, and a great fishing industry created wealth for the New England colonies. The central colonies had reasonable farmland but most of its wealth came from trade and skilled works of “weaving, shoemaking, cabinetmaking, and other crafts.”2 While farming was successful in the middle colonies, and scarcely existed in the North, it thrived in the south.

Considering servitude inside the various states was secured by the American constitution, abolitionist opinion concentrated on maintaining off the regions. Those in the south, contending that their regions were the basic assets of the considerable number of region’s dwellers, demanded that all they esteemed their established appropriate to convey slavery into domains. Besides, the slaves and the land were the assets of the southerners.

In conclusion, I would say that the modernization of the South followed a different path than the rest of America, due to a variety of reasons. Perhaps the most predominant of them would be the slow development of a diverse economy, late blooming of factories and the slower settlements and development of larger cities.